Tannahill
Cottage in Queen Street Paisley was the Tannahills' family home. Robert
Tannahill lived in the cottage till he died in 1810. In 1775, James
Tannahill acquired Bailie Slater's steading in Queen Street, and erected
upon it a one-storey thatched cottage, with a passage through the centre, the
north side being occupied as a dwelling-house and the south side as
a four-loom weaving shop. James Tannahill was a very accurate individual,
and he kept an account of the whole cost of the building, which has
been preserved in his memorandum or note pocketbook to the present day.
The book was a precious relic of the Tannahills and is still in existence,
carefully preserved by one of the daughters of James Tannahill, the
immediate elder brother of the Poet. The handwriting of the father is
even better than that of any of his sons. The building of the house
was one of the important acts in the life of James Tannahill. The
house was built at a cost of £60 16s /4d.

The cottage in the late 20th
century:

Sadly, during the night of June 6th, 2003, the cottage and its
contents were destroyed by fire. The fire was thought to have been
caused by an electrical fault. Fortunately, the resident caretaker and
his family escaped unhurt.

This is how the cottage looked on the morning of June 7th, 2003.

The cottage after
restoration - 2005. Note that the roof is now slated, not thatched...... a
consequence of insurance considerations. The cottage no longer has a resident
caretaker.

A club
meeting in progress in the newly refurbished cottage. President David Aaron is
in the chair with Secretary Jim Skinner alongside